Hell and High Water
by Tomlette
Summary: Kain has a moral conflict within when trying to decide the fate of the Razielim. Once the descion is made, however, his mood is anything but improved when he is paid an unexpected visit by Ariel. Please R&R.


**Hell and High Water**

Kain stood at the upper level of the Sanctuary of the Clans, the Reaver on it's tip in front of him, giving the illusion that both vampire and sword were looking out over the Abyss. As well as, and more importantly, at the glow of flames coming from the other side of the rise that blocked Kain's few of his son's clans. That was Razielim's city ablaze; he had no doubt of it, having ordered the clan's city to be burned in the first place. They had been showing more and more hostility since the death of their Master and Sire, Raziel, and Kain thought that losing their homes would give them incentive to rethink any uprisings they may have had in mind. However, as Kain listened to the sound of iron gates opening up within the Sanctuary, he had a suspicion that things had not gone as planed. The King of Nosgoth continued to gaze out at his limited view of his kingdom and allowed himself to become lost in his thoughts. He knew that soon enough, Turel would come to him and deliver whatever news there was to be heard.

When Turel did enter the great Gathering Chamber, he automatically went to his place beneath his banner before looking for Kain. The Master had been distant as of late, as if distracted by something. Turel tried to tell himself his Father's mind was on affairs of the state instead of his fallen son. Turel had never known what it was like to be the Master's right hand, his most loyal, his most powerful, his most _beloved_ child and Lieutenant until Raziel had taken the great fall into the Lake of the Dead. But when the Traitor was disposed of, and life began to get back into the swing of something resembling normal in the vampires lives, the Master had seemed...distant. As though his mind were elsewhere. And as Turel entered the Chamber, he was not surprised to see Kain on the upper level looking out as though he had not heard Turel enter. The Second Born (as, alas, he would always be known, even now) knew better.

"My lord," Turel said from his place under his banner. "I come with news."

"Yes, Turel, I know," Kain said with a sigh. He stood there for a few more minutes, watching, thinking, and then turned, placing the Reaver back in its proper place on his back. Turel looked away from Kain and across the chamber at his brother Zephon's banner, just as he had been taught. Out of his right eye he could see that Raziel's banner still hung, swaying slightly in the breeze that entered the Sanctuary. How he hated that blasted thing, and all that it had once stood for...but no matter. Turel was confidant that after tonight, there would no longer be a need for it.

Kain jumped gracefully from his perch and floated down, landing so softly that his claws didn't even disturb the thin layer of dirt that had been tracked in by his loyal subjects (and worshipers) over the past few weeks. From there he walked briskly to his throne, Turel kneeling and bowing his head before him as he past. Once Kain reached the former Pillar of Balance he spun, wiping his tabard around him like a cloak, and sat upon the stone and bone chair like the King he knew he was. Like the King all of Nosgoth knew he was.

"Report," Kain demanded, his voice now strong and full of authority.

Turel rose and faced Kain. "The City of the Razielim is in flames, as I am sure you know," Turel said, "But my clan and I arrived to find that it was empty. I went to Melchiah to hear what he knew of this, and he said that his clan had reported the Razielim having moved out two days ago."

"Why didn't he report this?" Kain asked.

"Because he wasn't aware the city had been abandoned," Turel continued, "Their move was gradual, Melchiah said, stretching out over a period of many weeks. Two days ago was when he saw the last of them move." Turel paused, and then went on. "Zephon's clan discovered the Razeilim hide-away in the canyons not far from here. He says they are assembling an army and training them. It is possible they are planning a strike."

"I see," Kain said, and leaned back in consideration. His worst fears were coming to pass. The Razielim were planning to rebel, probably...no, not probably, undoubtedly because of the execution of their Master. And how many of them had fallen into the change, he wondered? How many of them were, even now, growing the same wings on their backs that had condemned Raziel?

"Sire?" Turel's voice interrupted Kain's thoughts, "May I speak freely?"

Kain growled, agitated to have jerked from his train of thought, but nodded. "Speak, if you will."

Turel considered for a moment, and then he began. "The Razielim are a danger," he said, "They will never be trust worthy again. Even if...their sire still lived, this potential threat would easily be enough to condemn them. They are a threat to the Empire you have fought so hard to build, Sire. And any other threat would be exterminated."

Kain sighed once more as he considered Turel words. Was this what he had been reduced to? The destruction of an entire bloodline of his own kind? A crime the Sarafan Warrior-Priests (may Malek's soul fester and rot in whatever hole it found itself in) themselves were guilty of? And for what? For his own pride? His Empire? Would that truly be worth the deaths of all of Raziel's children?

But then Kain remembered why it was Raziel himself had to die. The Soul Reaver. The Pillars. The past. If the Razielim were to remain alive, they would not only pose a potential threat to his Empire, but also to his great plan on which had spent so long working, and which had so many more centuries to go. If they managed to destroy him, as Kain was sure their ultimate goal was, his great plan would never come to pass. All would be for not, the Pillars would be destroyed, Nosgoth would die, and Kain would never fulfill his destiny.

At length, he knew Turel was right. Letting them live was too great a risk to take.

"Take your clan and meet with Dumah," Kain told the Second Born, "Explain the situation to him and have him lead his clan with you against the Razielim. Take no prisoners. Not even the youngest fledging may be allowed to survive." Kain looked Turel in the eye. Turel tensed and felt his muscles knot up, but returned the gaze, as he knew was expected of him. He would not be able to hold the eyes of his Sire for long, however. "Do I make myself perfectly clear to you, child? No one may survive."

"No quarter," Turel said, then looked away. Kain's intense yellow eyes were simply too much for him to bear. "I understand, Sire. It will be done."

"See that it is." Kain nodded to Turel and waved him away. "You may go. Make your report after you return."

Turel nodded, then kneeled to Kain once more. After he stood, he turned and started for the door, but the voice of his Master called him back.

"Turel," Kain said, quietly but with an edge to his voice Turel had not heard in many years. He pointed to Turel's banner, upon which his clan's insignia was embroidered. "Do not march under that flag. Nor should Dumah under the flag of his clan. March, instead, under the banner of the Empire." He looked back to Turel. "Under my colors. So that they will know in the afterlife who to blame for their deaths."

Turel agreed, and was again dismissed. After he had left, Kain sighed and looked up to the ceiling, allowing the knowledge of what he had just done to sink in.

"And what," he wondered aloud, "will become of my soul after this heinous act?"

"You sound almost at though you care," came an airy, female voice from behind Kain. The old vampire scoffed, then stood and turned to see Ariel, the deceased Guardian of Balance, now over a millennium dead.

"Ah, Ariel," Kain said, "I thought perhaps I was rid of you. It has been so long since you have spoken..."

"Rid of me, vampire?" Ariel inquired. She drifted up beside the broken Pillar of Balance. "Nay, for you shall never be rid of me. I am bound here, as you well know...Bound here for eternity by your own careless act. The only thing that sustains me is the hope that one day I will come into the Material Realm to find you gone at last."

Kain laughed. "And you, too, should know that I will not be rid of easily myself," he said with a smirk.

"Alas, I fear you speak true," Ariel said with a soft sigh, "And what is this I hear of the Razielim? Are they to go the way of their master after all?"

"Ah, so you know about that," Kain mused, "And Raziel as well. You're quite skilled in eavesdropping, I see."

"The dead have many skills," Ariel replied. "As you should know. You have killed enough in your lifetime to fill all the cemeteries in Nosgoth."

Kain's eyes narrowed. "You do not know what pressure rests on my shoulders," he retorted, "The role of King is not an easy one to fill. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made."

Ariel jerked her ghostly shape as upright as she could. "Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, "Sacrifices! You would know all about that, wouldn't you, Kain? Especially after having refused the greatest sacrifice of all...That fact, I'm sure, none of your children are aware of. I suppose you've painted yourself the innocent victim in their eyes, haven't you, Kain?"

Kain shook his head and walked towards Ariel. "You hid the truth from me," he said calmly, "You mislead me to do your own dirty work, Ariel. And even if I had taken my own life that day, Ariel, what you simply cannot come to terms with is the probability of it not working. Even now, you cannot except that my death would not have restored balance, and you would still be in this exact situation..."

"Liar!" Ariel howled, "How dare you tell me such untruths and expect me to believe them! How dare you tell me that I mislead you! I hid your true destiny from you, this is true, but it had to be done! Would you have believed me if I had told you the truth? Of course not! And is Mortanius not also to blame for your lack of knowledge? And to even consider implying that the Pillars were beyond repair is simply ludicrous! The only thing that destroyed them was you, Kain! Only you! And your god forsaken _arrogance_!" Ariel moved backward, her remaining good eye seeming to bore holes into Kain rather than look at him. The sensation of the ghost's stare sent chills down Kain's back. "The Pillars never mattered to you. Nosgoth never mattered to you. Nor Raziel. Nor his children. All you have ever cared about, Kain, since the moment you came screaming into the world from your Mother's womb was power. And now that you have it, you care for nothing else." Her gaze hardened. "Nothing."

It happened in a flash. Kain's hand moved like lightning itself, a blur even to Ariel's specter eye. It reached back and gripped the hilt of the Soul Reaver, then pulled it forward in an arc that surely would have hit Ariel (and destroyed her, she had no doubt, for the magic of the Reaver was as powerful as it was mysterious to her) had she not moved backwards earlier. Instead, the sword sliced through empty air, singing its bone-chilling song as it went, and then imbedded itself an inch deep into the remaining stone of the Balance Pillar. Kain released the handle, not trusting himself not to strike at Ariel again were the Reaver free.

"You're wrong!" he bellowed, his white hair outlining his furious face like a wispy frame, "I wish I didn't care! I wish to any Gods that hear me, be they Dark, Light or Grey colored that I didn't care! Do you have any idea how much easier this whole ordeal would be if I didn't? Do you?! If I did not care, I would have Raziel still by my side! If I didn't care, I wouldn't see the flames of the Razielim's city burning from here! If I didn't care, I could strike you down with this blade now and not have to hear one more word spoken from your half-decayed mouth! But I do care! That is why all must be as it is! I do care!" Kain began to calm himself, and as he did so he regained some of his composure. A few strains of his white hair had fallen into his face, and he took the time to pull them back again. "I do care," he said again, his voice now calm and collected, with a touch of fatigue.

For a moment, the only sound to be heard through the entire building was the soft voice of another breeze blowing through. Kain's sharp nose was just able to pick up the scent of burnt wood and kerosene from it. He and the dead Balance Guardian stood there eye to eye amongst the ruins of the Pillars of Nosgoth, his wild yellow eyes returning the hateful gaze Ariel's one good eye. They stayed that way for what may have seemed like eternity to creatures such as you and I, but to beings as old and as tortured as these two, it felt like but a few moments. At last, Ariel turned her gaze away from Kain and looked, instead, and the jagged stump that was once the Pillar of the Mind.

"Perhaps," said she, "you speak true. But one day you shall be taught the error of your ways, Kain...and when you are, I can only hope the process be slow and excruciating."

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Kain said, defiantly as well as smugly, "Hope is an illusion." Ariel ignored the comment and faded from Kain's sight. He stood there for a few more minutes, perhaps hoping for Ariel or even Turel to return (for the argument got his blood up, and he now wanted nothing more than a good fight), but neither came. With a sigh, Kain reached for the hilt of the Soul Reaver and pulled with all his might. On his third try, the Pillar's stone released the sword, and once free, a ripple of blue energy coursed it's way down the blade. Kain watched this, fascinated, then returned it to its place on his back. He looked at his throne longingly for a moment, and then turned slightly and started towards one of the higher Pillar stumps, which he knew would provide him access to the upper level. He still had much thinking to do.


End file.
